Attacking Hindu icons who "betray" the BJP
Shrikant G. Talageri
The latest trend in the BJP journals seems to be to attack Hindus icons who speak out against the BJP (or even fail to utter magic mantras to make the BJP cross 400 seats) and to call them betrayers. Indiafacts recently published an article lambasting the RSS for having "betrayed" the BJP by somehow being responsible for not helping them cross 400 seats. Now, as only to be expected, Hindu seers who criticize the BJP or say anything inconvenient to the BJP are under attack:
https://swarajyamag.com/newsletters/shankaracharya-or-a-power-broker
Naturally logic has little role in this "all Hindu icons who do not support the BJP are traitors" campaign. Note the following gems in this article:
1. "it is time Hindus radically think about dismantling old structures and build new structures of Dharma based on the principles of true Sanatana Dharma".
That is, now organizations like the RSS and Hindu schools of seers and sages do not represent Hinduism. They are "old structures" (like the old temples in Varanasi which were demolished to create an elite-tourist-friendly slick modern ambience) that have to be "demolished". Now Modi ji and the BJP represent the "new structures of Dharma based on the principles of true Sanatana Dharma".
2. "Dharmacharyas today are seen aligning with the wealthy and powerful, rather than championing Dharma and justice.
From attending lavish events to endorsing casteism, these Dharmacharyas seem to stray from their spiritual duties."
Modi ji, the BJP leaders and the Dharmacharyas who support them are of course known for their frugal lifestyles (like the ex-CM of Tripura of the CPM, Manik Sarkar), and for policies and activities which show a strict refusal to be "seen aligning with the wealthy and powerful, rather than championing Dharma and justice" or to be seen "attending lavish events" or to be seen "endorsing casteism"!!!! One doesn't know whether to laugh or to cry!
3. "Past Dharmacharyas like Samartha Ramadas, Thirunavukarasar, and Thirumazhisai Azhwar stood firm in their principles, refusing wealth and power in favour of Dharma…. The current ones fail to live up to this legacy and appear more like power brokers than spiritual guides."
Isn't this insulting to Yogi Adityanath, not to mention all the sadhus, seers and spiritual leaders who have spoken out in support of the Ayodhya movement and the BJP or Hindu politics in the past?
4. " Case in Point: Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said Uddhav Thackeray was betrayed. However, if ever there was a betrayal, it was the ideals of a father (Balasaheb Thackeray) betrayed by the son (Uddhav).
· Hasn't Uddhav Thackeray betrayed his late father by aligning with Congress dynast who abuses Veer Savarkar in the vilest terms?
· Hasn't Uddhav Thackeray betrayed Balasaheb by joining Sharad Pawar who lied about the Mumbai bomb blasts, adding a Hindu angle to it?
It appears Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati's conscience did not even feel a slight pang at this betrayal."
This raises or ignores several points.
1. During and after the Emergency, Bal Thackeray was the only political leader in the whole of India (apart from the CPI) who supported Indira Gandhi when everyone (from the RSS and Jan Sangh to the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Shahi Iman to the CPM and Naxalites apart from every Socialist party and groups of Congressmen) were ranged against her.
2. Of course Uddhav Thackeray has betrayed Hindutva (but the writer only feels a "pang" at his aligning with the Congress against the BJP). But the BJP has betrayed Hindutva on a much deeper and grander and more irreversible scale.
3. It was the BJP which first tried to align with Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra and even engineered a midnight coup where Ajit Pawar was sworn in a deputy CM (on the understanding that the entire NCP including Sharad Pawar would also be a part of the alliance). Then the Shiv Sena finalized its alliance with Sharad Pawar (although talks were already in progress).
4. Savarkar is remembered by the BJP only during elections, or in anti-Congress contexts. Otherwise, while Mulayam Singh Yadav, the butcher of karsewaks in Ayodhya, was given a Padma Vibhushan by the BJP (alongwith other pioneers of casteist politics who were given Bharat Ratnas and Padma Vibhushan awards), Savarkar was not considered worthy even of the lowest padma award, the Padma Shri.
5. One of the persons who released the book on "Hindu terror" was the then Congressman Kripa Shankar Singh who was given a Lok Sabha seat by the BJP in the recent elections.
The writer of the article "did not even feel a slight pang at this/these betrayal(s)."
5. "Saraswati, a self-styled Shankaracharya (whose status is court-stayed)…"
Not supporting the BJP raises all sorts of pseudo-legal issues (with the ED and I-tax authorities to do the follow-up?). There are many court cases involving the status of Hindu priests and seers all over the country.
This is what wikipedia on "Jyotir math" has to say about the status of Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati:
"After the death of Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, who was the Shankracharya of Dwarka Sharada Math, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati was made the Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath.[16] His coronation was endorsed by Sringeri and Dwarka peeth shankaracharyas. Supreme Court stopped his coronation as the new shankaracharya after an affidavit was filed by Puri Shankaracharya.[17] However many akharas including Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad and sadhus have not accepted his appointment as the new shankaracharya".
I suppose the Sringeri and Dwarka peeth Shankaracharyas should also have their status questioned in court for endorsing a "self-styled" charlatan who praises or supports rivals of the BJP?
6. "A civilisation needs religion to sustain itself. Religion needs institutions to sustain itself. These institutions, to empower themselves, need political and financial patronage, which comes from the wealthy and powerful in that society."
This is rich coming from a person who is castigating Hindu seers for supporting rivals of the BJP!! The BJP throughout its ten-year tenure absolutely refused to empower Hindi temples and religious and other (educational, etc.) institutions by the simple act of giving them mere equality with Muslim and Christian mosques/churches and religious and other (educational, etc.) institutions, by absolutely and categorically refusing to extend the scope of articles 25-30 of the Constitution to Hindus (something which even Syed Shahabuddin of the BMAC had been willing, and wanted, to do). The BJP thought that their 1000-year Reich had started and they would be in absolute power forever, and they did not want Hindu temples and religious and other (educational, etc.) institutions "to empower themselves" like the Muslim and Christian ones are already empowered, but to be at the permanent mercy of "political and financial patronage, which comes from the wealthy and powerful in that society".
All this is just the beginning of the "Hindutva" crackdown on Hindutva.
